Highway One through NSW has a rich history, resulting in three different styles of shield - National Route 1, National Highway 1, and Metroad 1. National Route 1 covers the New England Hwy between Beresfield and Hexham, and the Pacific Highway north of Hexham, as well as the Southern Freeway and Mt Ousley Rd between Waterfall and Yallah, and the Princes Highway south of Yallah. National Highway 1 covers the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway and John Renshaw Drive, while Metroad 1 covers the route through Sydney urban area.

Originally, the entire route through New South Wales was National Route 1, the changes beginning in November 1974 with the advent of the National Highway system. Many alignment changes later, in October 1993, the Metroad system replaced the National Route designation through Sydney.

Route Changes:

Original 1955 route:

National Route 1 was the kingpin of the 1954 Master Plan for National Routes. The original plan was for a circumferential route around the coast of Australia, clockwise from Cairns to Darwin. Following a successful trial of route marking signage along the Hume Highway in 1954, the first section of National Route 1 was signposted between Brisbane and Adelaide via the Pacific and Princes Highways.

The specific route went as follows: From the the Queensland Broder at Coolangatta via the Pacific Highway to North Sydney, then via the Bradfield Hwy, York St, George St, Broadway, City Rd to Princes Highway and on to the Victorian Border via the Princes Highway. Of course at the time the alignments of Princes and particularly Pacific Highways differed greatly to todays alignments. Details on the various alignment changes for both these highways can be found in their respective sections of this site.

Newcastle realignment:

In 1959 a deviation of the Pacific Highway between Adamstown Heights and Newcastle West was opened to traffic, thus taking the National Rotue 1 shield. The original route followed today's Brunker Rd, Belford St and Tudor St. For more information and photos see click HERE.

Sydney-Newcastle Freeway realignments:

In November 1974 the existing and future sections of the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway were proclaimed a National Highway. Thus, NAASRA approved the moving of the National Route 1 shield from the Pacific Hwy between Berowra and Ourimbah onto the Berowra-Calga Tollwork and State Highway No. 26 to become National Highway. This also ensured that future sections of the freeway were given the National Highway 1 shield. The National Highway 1 shield also used a temporary route through Kurri Kurri to bypass Newcastle from March 1988 to December 1993. The National Highway designation ends at the northern end of John Renshaw Drive, where the New England Hwy provides a short connecting route between John Renshaw Dr and Pacific Hwy. More information can be found on the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway page.

Southern Freeway realignments:

The Southern Freeway, together with Mt Ousley Rd, replaces the Princes Highway as the through traffic route through the Wollongong urban area. However, the Southern Freeway did not gain the National Route 1 shield straight away, it was until the opening of the Waterfall-Bulli Tops Tollwork in July 1975 that National Route 1 was shifted onto the tollwork, then Mt Ousley Rd and the freeway as far south as Northcliffe Drive. From then on, further sections of the freeway gained the National Route 1 shield upon opening. More information is available on the Southern Freeway page.

Sydney realignments and the replacement by Metroad 1:

Information on the original alignment and subsequent changes can be found HERE.

Alpha-numeric route numbering:

RMS is planning to implement an alpha-numeric route numbering scheme throughout NSW in 2013. A full outline of the proposed scheme is available on the RMS Website. The proposed changes to Highway 1 are outlined as follows: